By Rahul Bali

The clubs are keen to have their say on important matters and being a stakeholder in the league shall certainly go a long way towards it...

The I-League clubs, under the banner of I-League Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA), have requested the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to make them a stakeholder in the I-League.

The clubs have long been engaged in a dialogue with the AIFF over making the I-League a separate legal entity, as per the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) guidelines. While a legal opinion was sought on the same, as confirmed to Goal by AIFF general secretary Kushal Das, not much progress has been made since then. It must also be noted that in a meeting held back in August last year, the AIFF had agreed in principle to make the league a separate legal entity.

“The AIFF should seriously consider making clubs stakeholders in the I-League. By doing this, the AIFF can reduce its expenses in the short run and would also incentivise the clubs to invest in the development of Indian Football,” stated a letter by IPFCA.

Interestingly the clubs, should they be made the stakeholders, agreed that if the I-League doesn’t make profits, they wouldn’t demand for financial support from the AIFF.

“The I-League should be made a separate legal entity and all I-League clubs should be given a percentage of revenues earned. If the I-League doesn’t earn revenue, nothing should be shared with the clubs,” the letter mentioned.

FollowRahul Bali on

How do you stay up with football when on the move? Withhttp://m.goal.com–your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.